Albert Abdul-Rahman has had a lifetime of adapting to change which stands him in good stead to face one of the biggest challenges in his life: learning to walk again after his left foot was amputated just three weeks ago.

Aged 19, Albert left Papua New Guinea for Queensland where he joined the Australian army: “There was no way I was prepared for the culture shock, I thought I knew about life in Australia, but everything was different to what I was used to.” Albert embraced life with the army and spent six years as an engineer, learning a great deal about his new country and remaining an important part of the Papua New Guinea community living in Townsville.

After leaving the army, Albert got married and, as well as raising four children of their own, Albert and his wife were foster parents to more than 200 kids in the area, providing temporary care when it was needed most. “It was a really busy time, looking after the kids and seeing to their needs meant we didn’t think much about ourselves and I was far too busy to think about my health.” It wasn’t until 1988, when Albert was getting ready to go on holiday that he went to the doctor for a general check up.

Tests revealed that Albert had Type 2 diabetes, which came as a total shock; “I had been a bit tired, but had put this down to being busy. I knew nothing about diabetes, so just took my medication and got on with living my life.” 10 years later, Albert began to get an idea of how diabetes could impact on his whole body. “I cut my little finger on some glass but didn’t take much notice.” His finger continued to swell and a trip to hospital revealed that it had become infected. Doctors tried to treat the infection, but it had taken hold and Albert’s little finger had to be amputated.

Losing his finger did not hold Albert back as he continued to help with the foster care of local children, while also helping with his 17 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren. He was aware of his diabetes but felt it was difficult to make any major changes: “I wasn’t taking enough care. There are many complexities to living with diabetes and people’s cultural backgrounds have to be taken into account. It is not always easy to make the changes you are asked to and I did not take it as seriously as I should have. “

In 2015, Albert stood on a drawing pin which pricked his heel: ‘It bled a lot and although it was painful, I just put a band aid on and hoped for the best.” Unfortunately, his foot got increasingly painful and by the time Albert visited the doctor, his foot was infected. This started a downward spiral, which developed into Charcot foot, where the bones of his foot were infected and painful. Unfortunately, the infection spread to the flesh, and Albert’s leg had to be amputated just below his knee.

Currently recovering from the amputation and undergoing rehabilitation, Albert remains upbeat about his experience and is determined to get his mobility back: “I have learned so much about how diabetes affects my body in the last few months. I am listening to the diabetes educators and they are listening to me and understanding things from my cultural perspective. I now know even small positive changes in my lifestyle can make a difference to my diabetes and I’m doing everything I can to protect my health and my other foot.”